The role of reading motivation and self-efficacy in enhancing EFL students’ reading achievement

While the relationship between reading self-efficacy, motivation, and achievement is well-established, their relative predictive power within blended learning contexts remains underexplored. The aim of the study was to analyze the stronger predictor of reading accomplishment among 244 Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language students enrolled in a blended reading course. Additionally, the interplay between learners’ reading self-efficacy, reading motivation, and their reading performance is also a focal point of examination. To determine how gender affected individuals’ reading motivation and self-efficacy, an independent samples T-test was used in this study. Additionally, to examine the relationships between the trio of variables, Pearson correlation analysis was adopted here. Multiple linear regression analysis was implemented here to detect the stronger predictor of individuals’ reading achievement. The gender-based differences in students’ reading self-efficacy were found to be statistically significant, but not in reading motivation. Furthermore, there were positive associations among learners’ reading performance, motivation, and self-efficacy. However, reading self-efficacy was a more reliable predictor of students’ reading accomplishment than reading motivation. The findings highlight the importance of fostering students’ reading self-efficacy to enhance their learning outcomes in technology-enhanced environments.